* iShares Silver Trust <SLV> holdings hit record
* SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> holdings steady
* Crude oil <CLc1> rises above $77
(Recasts, changes dateline to LONDON from TOKYO)
By Rebekah Curtis
LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Friday, hovering
below the previous session's record high and building a base
above $1,100 an ounce as the dollar edged lower and analysts
predicted further losses in the currency,
Bullion has hit record highs for six out of the past eight
sessions, touching an all-time peak of $1,122.85 on Thursday on
the view the dollar would remain weak.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,106.65 per ounce at 1102 GMT, up
0.3 percent from New York's notional close of $1,103.60.
The U.S. currency was 0.3 percent lower against a basket of
major currencies and has lost about 7 percent so far this year,
making commodities priced in the greenback cheaper for holders
of other currencies. []
"It's tracking the dollar," said David Thurtell, an analyst
at Citi, adding that Citi predicts further losses in the dollar.
"There's so much bullishness now about gold," he said. "It's
hard to see any real reasons why you'd want to sell it."
Gold was poised finish the week with a 1 percent gain after
rising 4.9 percent last week, which was the biggest weekly gain
since late April.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> were up $1.1
at $1,107.70 per ounce. They rose to a record high of $1,123.40
on Thursday.
Investors are also betting on more central bank buying after
news last week that the International Monetary Fund had sold 200
tonnes of bullion to India's central bank.
"It can get to $1,250 before we get a really serious
correction," Thurtell said of bullion.
"That might not happen this year, it might be early next
year."
OIL TOO
U.S. crude oil <CLc1> rose above $77. Gold often moves in
line with crude, both because it can be used as a hedge against
oil-led inflation and as rising crude prices often increase
interest in commodities as an asset class.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, on the other hand, said its holdings stood at
1,114.443 tonnes as of Nov. 12, unchanged from the previous day.
[]
South Africa, previously the world's top producer, said gold
output fell 9.3 percent in volume terms in September compared to
a year earlier. []
There was also a revival in interest in silver with holdings
in the world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund
hitting a record high.
The holdings in the iShares Silver Trust <SLV> rose 183.37
tonnes, or 2.1 percent, from the previous day to an all-time
high of 8,923.52 tonnes as of Nov. 12. []
Silver <XAG=> traded at $17.27 from $17.21. Platinum <XPT=>
was at $1,353.50 from $1,350.50 and palladium was at $350.50
from $346.95.
"The market is bullish and, combined with our view on the US
dollar -- $1.60 against the euro towards end of Q1 2010 --
downside seems well contained," Standard Bank analyst Walter de
Wet said in a note.
But he added: "Gold's ascent will slow in the next eight
weeks as jewellery seasonal demand tapers off."
(Editing by Keiron Henderson)
